And if men want to praise us...

Martin Luther wrote....

...Be on one's guard, to flee from and to avoid all temporal honor and praise, and never to seek a name for oneself, or fame and a great reputation, that every one sing of him and tell of him; which is an exceedingly dangerous sin, and yet the most common of all, and, alas! little regarded. Every one wants to be of importance and not to be the least, however small he may be; so deeply is nature sunk in the evil of its own conceit and in its self-confidence contrary to the[se] two first Commandments. Now the world regards this terrible vice as the highest virtue, and this makes it exceedingly dangerous for those who do not understand and have not had experience of God's Commandments and the histories of the Holy Scriptures, to read or hear the heathen books or histories. For all heathen books are poisoned through and through with this striving after praise and honor; in them men are taught by blind reason that they were not nor could be men of power and worth, who are not moved by praise and honor; but those are counted the best, who disregard body and life, friend and property and everything in the effort to win praise and honor.

...quoting....

...St. Augustine says: "All other vices are practised evil works; only honor and self-satisfaction are practised in and by means of good works."

...very passionately he adds...

...The holy Name of God, which alone should be honored, is taken in vain and dishonored through our own cursed name, self-approval and honor-seeking. And this sin is more grievous before God than murder or adultery, but its wickedness is not so clearly seen as that of murder, because of its subtlety, for it is not accomplished in the coarse flesh, but in the spirit.

...vehemently he reminds all of his readers that...

And if men want to praise us and not God in us, we are not to endure it, but with all our powers forbid it and flee form it as from the most grievous sin and robbery of divine honor.......flattery is not to be endured. but not only that but any praise that detracts from the Lord.

I wonder if he thought we would need to listen to his wise counsel?
I know I need to hear this....frequently....